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Can Organic Farming Feed the Growing Population?

A lot of people think that organic farming is not enough to feed the increasing populations of the world. They figure that nurturing “high yield conventional and genetically modified” crops is the right thing to do. However, the research from the Farming Systems Trial of Rodale Institute shows that this thinking is not true. Before we proceed with Rodale’s findings, let us see the credibility of this institution.

Rodale Institute

Rodale Institute is a non-profit organization committed to organic farming by means of research and outreach. It was established in 1947 by one of the pioneers in organic farming, J.J. Rodale. The institute was the first to study the link between three important factors: (1) healthy soil, (2) healthy food, and (3) healthy people.

For more than 60 years now, Rodale Institute has been researching for the best practices in organic farming and it has been sharing these findings with scientists and farmers all throughout the globe. People of the institute have been advocating the policies that will support farmers. They also educate the consumers about the importance of organic as the healthy option in the planet.

Organic Farming Can Feed

The Rodale Institute’s Farming System Trial was initiated way back in 1981. They have been delicately examining the differences and the similarities between the 2 systems (organic and conventional) for more than 30 years now. In these years of careful research, they found out that organic farming is far more superior to conventional and chemical farming in many ways.

What the team did was that to see the results when you plant corn and soy (the most popular crops in the US) in both methods. They initiated comparative analysis between the two.

Over a short period of time, they saw that organic yields were smaller than the chemical-based ones. However, after some times, they found out that organic yields caught up to, and even went beyond, the size and the quantity of the yields from chemical farming.

Additional Findings

When it comes to saving the planet, organic farming is the bright choice according to their research. Their data tell that chemical farming emit 40% more greenhouse gases than organic farming.

They also found out that the conventional farming is destroying the health of the soil, which makes sustaining feasible soil far more expensive and painstaking than it is in organic farming.

They also figured out that organic productions are more profitable to farmers than the productions of conventional farming because the former does not require more energy input.